Pellegrini: Slovakia Not Opposed to Zelenkyy's Presence at NATO Summit

Bratislava/the Hague, 25 June (TASR-correspondent) - After the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, Slovak President Peter Pellegrini emphasised that Slovakia was not opposed to the participation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, TASR learnt from its special correspondent assigned to the event on Wednesday. Prior to arriving in The Hague, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had stated that the leaders of Hungary, Slovakia, Turkey, and the United States objected to Zelenskyy’s presence at the working sessions. Pellegrini expressed surprise at Orban’s statement and underlined that neither he personally, nor the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Defense, or Slovakia’s ambassador to NATO had conveyed any such request. The head of state pointed out that during the Bucharest Nine (B9) summit, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte had already announced that this year’s summit would not focus on the war in Ukraine but rather on the future functioning of the Alliance. He noted that no representatives from third countries participated in the NATO meeting. Slovak Defense Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) added that Ukraine was not included in the final communique of the NATO summit, as a NATO–Ukraine Council meeting had not been planned. Zelenskyy did attend the summit alongside other NATO partners from countries such as New Zealand and Japan. He held talks with several leaders of NATO member states and also addressed the Dutch parliament. On Tuesday, he participated in a state dinner for leaders, hosted by Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima at the royal palace Huis ten Bosch. However, he was not present at the working session of NATO leaders. After the summit, he met with U.S. President Donald Trump as well. mf/mcs